The Veil

The Veil

D. A. Ratliff

The droning hum from the car’s tires rolling across the asphalt soothed her nerves rather than inflamed them. Sage Ryan had made it as far as Redding, and in one more hour, she would be in the Northern California mountains. He couldn’t find her there—she hoped.

A glance at the gas gauge revealed she had half a tank. Sage shuttered and realized she suffered a bit from paranoia but feared running out of gas if he chased her. Spotting an exit with gas stations and restaurants, she pulled off the interstate and parked in the lot of a large shopping center with a grocery store.

She gazed about at the people coming and going, living their lives today as they had yesterday and the days and weeks before. She hoped that someday her life would be normal again. It wasn’t normal now. The last words her recently ex-husband, David Norton, spewed at her echoed in her head. “You bitch, you disloyal bitch. I made you what you are in this town. I’ll find you and bring you down. You can’t escape me, ever.”

The town was Los Angeles, and she was a screenwriter, but he hadn’t made her. She had written a screenplay that the studio he worked for bought the rights to. Both were from St. Helena, California and met in high school but lost touch over the years. She was a twenty-four-year-old graduate student at UCLA when she sold the screenplay. He was a year older when he was tapped to direct the movie from her manuscript. As it was a shoestring budget for an independent film, she was hired as the in-house writer, rewriting her original script.

The film proved successful in selected movie theaters and a major streaming platform. Sage began writing scripts under contract, and venture capitalists came calling with money to burn. David started his own production company, and within three years, they were the talk of Hollywood. Heady with success and a relationship fueled by memories of a high school romance, they married, and everyone in the industry celebrated with them. Their wedding day was the best day of their marriage. The end was more difficult than she had ever imagined.

Sage pulled herself out of her memories. She had to tend to the task at hand, and that was to get safe. She headed into the grocery store and purchased a few items. The resort she booked had a restaurant, but all the cabins had a microwave and coffee pot. On a whim, she bought art supplies from a craft store in the center, filled the car with gas, grabbed a chicken sandwich from a fast-food joint, and headed back onto the interstate.

About five miles down the road, her phone beeped. She jumped, afraid to look at the caller ID, then laughed nervously. It was a new phone and number that only her sister, her attorney, and the District Attorney had. The caller was her sister.

“Rosie, hi.”

“Just checking, where are you?”

“Less than an hour away. Just stopped for gas and food.”

“Are you sure you want to be alone? I’d feel better if you were here with us.”

“I need to get away. I need time to think. Besides, if he comes after me, I don’t want you, Gil, or the kids involved.”

“Sage, you should come back and stay here. It would be tough for Dave to get to the vineyard. The security cameras would trigger before he got up the hill.”

“No, not putting you in danger.”

“You could stay with Cooper in London. He and Ione have plenty of room.”

“Rosie, I’ll be fine. I will disappear where he won’t think to look for me until the trial. I need to finish the screenplays I’m working on. This way, I can do that in peace.”

“Okay, but Sage, stay in touch daily. And don’t get mad if I text you all the time. I’m worried but so thankful you got out of that mess. Text me when you get there.”

“I will, I promise.”

On the northern outskirts of Redding, mountains appeared on the horizon, and her pulse quickened as she approached her destination. She tuned the satellite radio to her favorite oldies station, sang along to pass the time, and soon arrived at the exit leading to the resort.

Childhood memories came rushing back as she pulled into the resort, built on an old railroad spur line. She loved that the resort's accommodations consisted of train cars and cabooses decked out with all the amenities, air conditioning, WiFi—everything a hotel could offer. As a child, her father, who loved toy trains, took the family every fall to hike and enjoy the national forests and often during the rest of the year.

Sage parked in front of the office to check-in. A woman about her mother’s age greeted her as she walked in. “Welcome. You must be Amy Watson.”

For a moment, Sage panicked, then remembered her attorney’s legal assistant had made the booking in her name and had loaned Sage her car to keep her hidden. “I am.”

“Good, you are the only guest checking in today, so I figured you must be you.”

After getting the key card and a quick rundown of the resort, Sage drove the short distance to the old caboose, now converted into a hotel room. The room’s interior was precisely how she remembered—knotty pine wall paneling, décor early railroad with quilts on the bed, and prints of trains on the walls. After unloading the car, she locked the door behind her, and for the first time in over a year, she felt safe.

Sage changed into shorts and a t-shirt, texted Rosie that she had arrived, and then called her attorney Zack Larken. His secretary put her through immediately.

“Hey, Sage. Arrived?” His quiet, reassuring voice was calming to hear.

“Yes, and settled in.”

“Good. A small development. David’s attorney has requested a hearing on discovery and demands that you be present since the discovery includes evidence you provided. The judge has not ruled on the motion yet but be prepared. I will insist on Zoom.”

“Do I have to be there even by Zoom?”

“This judge is a stickler for doing things by the book, so I think she’ll require you to be present. The question they are raising is about access to the safe. Since the names of several of their marks were found in the safe, they want to challenge why you were in the safe, to begin with.”

“Okay, just as long as that won’t know where I am.”

“The judge is aware of the threats you have received, so I am sure the court will protect your whereabouts. Okay, I have a client waiting. Call me if you need anything. I’ll be in touch as soon as I know something definitive.”

Sage dropped her head in her hands, weary from the stress she’d been under. She chuckled to herself. That’s what you get when you turn your husband in for being part of a Ponzi scheme, theft by deception, fraud, and tax evasion. Had she missed anything? Her sanity, maybe. The bottle of wine she impulsively grabbed at the grocery sat invitingly on the small kitchen counter, but she resisted the temptation. Alcohol wasn’t the answer. Justice was.

After unpacking, Sage showered, took a short nap, and around seven p.m., headed to the restaurant for dinner. Stepping into the dining car felt like slipping on a favorite old sweater against an evening chill. The warm dark reds of the carpet, leather chairs, and fringed drapes brought back comforting memories of her family together, enjoying dinner after a long hike. A rush of grief rippled through her. Her parents had died when she was in college—a car accident on a trip to Oregon. Rosemary had just married Gil, a vintner her father hired, and he and Rosie had taken over the family vineyard while she and Cooper finished college. Many years passed, and a lot of life and pain since then.

Shaking off old memories, she ordered mushroom ravioli and spumoni for dessert. She worked on a screenplay until midnight before sleep overtook her, and she went to bed.

~~~

Morning dawned over the mountains, and Sage awoke as golden sunlight streamed through the windows. The caboose was chilly, and she pulled the covers over her and snuggled into the warmth. In the early morning, birdsong filled the air, and a door to another unit opened and closed, but the most prevalent sound was silence, and she relished in the quiet.

In a burst of energy, she decided she needed a walk. Sage hit the walking trail leading out of the resort ten minutes later. A small stream lit by dappled sunlight ran along the path's edge, and she reveled in being in the fresh air filled with the aroma of pine. A wave of creativity washed over her, and she began taking photos of interesting views to sketch later. Twenty minutes down the trail, she stopped as her heart pounded. The path forked at that point, leading to the one place she both wanted to visit and was afraid to visit, the Veil, which was her nickname for the Middle Falls. As a sixteen-year-old, she sat on the rocks surrounding the plunge pool at the base of the waterfall and had named the soft flow of water the veil—like a wedding veil. Granted, she was a starry-eyed teenager visiting the falls with her crush, David. Sage leaned against a tree for support as she fought against the rising panic threatening to overtake her. A few forced steady breaths, and she became calmer. Hunger pangs gnawed at her, and she turned for the resort. She would come back.

Over the next few days, she fell into a routine—rising early, taking a hike, returning for breakfast which she often picked up from the restaurant, then writing and painting. She had sketched a few images and had begun to create watercolors from the sketches. Afternoons and evenings were dedicated to completing the three scripts she needed to finish.

Midday, she was cleaning her brushes when her attorney called. “Sage, we have a date for the hearing. Tomorrow at one p.m.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes, you’ll have to appear by Zoom, but not to worry, you should have no direct contact with David. The VPN on your laptop should protect your location. We can’t be certain, but the court will generate the Zoom link so it’s as secure as possible. Let’s review their objections to discovery if you have a moment.”

An hour later, Sage grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and plopped onto the couch. She had to face her demons, and, for some idiotic reason, she had allowed the waterfall to become a bad memory because of David. All the times she visited with her family faded, and only the visits with David meant anything. She had to change the dynamic. She had to see the falls.

The afternoons were hot in mid-summer, and she dressed in shorts, a T-shirt, and hiking boots and stuffed a water bottle, sunscreen, bug spray, towel, and her sketch pad and pencils inside a knapsack. She took a deep breath at the door, turned the knob, and left the unit.

The hike to the falls took about thirty minutes. As she neared, the sound of rushing water became louder. She followed the stream the last few feet to where it widened into a rocky pool with vegetation, lichen, and moss-covered rock walls. The Middle Falls, the second of three falls cascaded down the mountain, soared twenty-five feet above the plunge pool, and the mist from the rushing water cooled the surrounding air.

Sage spread the towel across the flattest rock and sat cross-legged, eyes closed, taking in the calming sound of the flowing water to soothe her nerves. Images of her parents laughing while she, Rosie, and Cooper splashed in the murky pool. She was the youngest and afraid, and her dad told her that nothing could hurt her, just rocks and plants beneath her feet. Those had been hours of magic, always a picnic lunch with special treats and all wonderful memories.

Then came the summer of her sixteenth year. Her high school drama club had been looking for a place to hold a retreat, and she had mentioned the railway resort. Her drama teacher was thrilled with the idea, and arrangements were made for the twenty members of the drama club and their chaperones to spend the week there.

With seminars and rehearsals in the morning, they had from noon until five to play. Sage had taken a group of friends to the waterfall, and they spent nearly every day there. She’d had a crush on David for weeks, and they found themselves alone on the next to the last day of the retreat.

He was in the water. She was sitting on the same flat rock. He grinned and beckoned her to join him, and she shyly complied. He had taken her in his arms, and they drifted toward the falls. She whispered, “It looks like a wedding veil.” He’d then turned her chin toward him and whispered. “Just like you will wear one day for me.” David kissed her, and her sixteen-year-old self was overcome with joy. As she forced the image from her mind, she thought what a fool she had been then and now. Her marriage ended years before they divorced. She knew David had multiple affairs, and she had stopped caring.

The demons unleashed over the past year bubbled to the surface, but Sage angrily pushed them back. Enough pain and fear, she had to take control, and she fought the raw emotion back and calmed down. She drank from her water bottle, pulled the sketch pad from her knapsack, and began to draw.

She returned to the cabin around five p.m., took a shower, and fell asleep, exhausted from the trek and the emotions generated. When she woke, she felt rested and ravenous.

It was Wednesday night in mid-July, and the restaurant was quiet. Sage picked a table that overlooked the resort. She ordered a steak and a glass of wine and was halfway through her meal when the resort’s owner came to check on her.

“Everything all right?”

“Everything is wonderful. I remember the food being good when I was last here in my teens. My family used to come here two or three times a year.”

“That was before my time, but I hear stories from many guests who came here as children and now bring their families. Wonderful to know that we’ve become a tradition.”

“It’s a beautiful spot, lots of fun things to do.”

“Glad you feel that way.” She hesitated. “I’m Tammy Mortensen, my husband, Jim, and I own the place. He’s in Sacramento for a couple of days.” She paused again. “Just took a fresh apple pie out of the oven. Would you care to join me in a slice and some coffee?”

Sage felt a moment of panic but tossed that out as nerves. “I’d like that. Please join me.”

The server cleared her plates, and Tammy arrived with two slices of pie with ice cream and a carafe of coffee. She poured coffee and then sat. “I hope you don’t mind. I get a bit lonely when Jim is gone.”

“No, not at all. I’ve been here for a few days with little outside contact. I have a deadline on a difficult project, so I wanted a nice quiet place to concentrate.”

Then came the dreaded question. “What do you do, Amy?”

Sage responded the way she had rehearsed. “I write government contract proposals, which takes much concentration.”

“I bet. Sounds complicated. Tell me about your experiences as a child coming to the park.”

Sage told her about several birthdays, and fall and winter getaways they took, but when Tammy asked about her favorite spot, her breath caught. She ran her fingertips over the rim of the coffee cup, taking a moment to compose herself.

“My favorite spot? The Middle Falls was my favorite place to go as a child. My dad would regale us with stories of pirates and treasure, and we would imagine finding a cave behind the falls where pirates had hidden their loot. As I grew up, the serenity of the pool and the sound of the falling water kept it as my favorite place.”

“Mine, too. You know, last May, we rented the entire park out to a naturist group. Jim laughed because they didn’t want to leave once they found the falls.”

“I can understand.” Sage looked at her phone. “It’s nearly ten, and I need to prepare for an online meeting tomorrow, so going to call it a night.”

“This was fun. Nice to have a girl chat for a change.”

Sage said goodnight and headed for her unit. The thought of seeing David tomorrow, even over the internet, had intruded on her pleasant evening. All she wanted was for it to be over soon.

Sleep proved difficult, and Sage rose just before daylight, dressed quickly, and walked down another trail away from the Middle Falls. She went over her deposition in her head. She didn’t want to get this wrong. She still had difficulty accepting that David and his partner had been soliciting investors and screenwriters, dangling production contracts that never materialized as an enticement. Promise them fame and fortune, get their money, then say sorry, production fell through, but your investment was used up in startup costs.

Her nerves were getting the better of her. During the last hour before the hearing, she busied herself hanging a plain blanket over the window behind the small dining table. She was fearful to make sure there were no indications of where she was, down to not showing the knotty pine walls. She worried that David would remember the resort.

She slipped on a business blouse, applied a bit of makeup, and sat nervously waiting to join the hearing. When her phone rang, she jumped a mile and punched the phone. “Zack, I nearly went through the roof.”

“Sorry. Just wanted to touch base before we begin. You know the ropes here. Answer truthfully and say what you said in the deposition.”

“I will. Are you certain that I will have to testify?”

“I don’t see any way around it, but remember, we have nothing to hide. They are trying to say you had no right to access the safe. Their contention that the safe was for David’s separate production company, which you were never a part of, and, therefore, that you had no legal access to the safe, is absurd. We have the necessary documentation, and it’s all been submitted into evidence before the hearing.”

“I just want this over with.”

“We got this, Sage. Okay, the hearing is in five minutes, so go ahead and log in. We’ll chat afterward.”

She took a sip of water, wishing she had poured wine instead, and clicked on join. The courtroom appeared on her screen. The screen had four views—the courtroom, the bench, the prosecutor, and the defense counsel’s tables. Her counsel was sitting in the gallery behind the prosecution.

Sage curled her fingers into fists as she saw her ex-husband for the first time in months. He and his partner had been released on bail and had been harassing her. He called her, drove by her house, and followed her when she left. Zack filed a restraining order, and it was granted. That’s when the threats started. Notes, calls from burner phones, paint on her car, and a direct threat at their divorce hearing. Rosie and Gil drove from Mt. Helena to be with her, and they were exiting the courtroom after the divorce was granted when David rushed her. He grabbed her, screaming that she had betrayed him and he would see her dead. Gil tackled him, and the bailiffs pulled David away. She declined to charge him, and he was released but ordered to wear an ankle monitor, but she knew she had to escape his reach.

Being the producer-director he was, Sage knew he had scoped out the cameras, and as the judge walked into the courtroom, he turned and glared at the primary camera. A wave of fury ran through her. She would not be intimidated.

The bailiff called the court to order, and the judge read the motion by the defendant to challenge certain items in discovery and requested the witness who testified in a deposition to be present in court. She looked at the prosecutor, is the witness Sage Marie Ryan present?”

“She is Your Honor via Zoom.”

“And her counsel?”

Zack stood. “I am Zachary Larken, and I represent Ms. Ryan.”

The judge then read through the motion for hearing and asked David’s attorney to state his objection, precisely what Zack told her. The prosecution referred to several exhibits placed into evidence, and many minutes were spent as the judge reviewed the documents. Finally, the prosecutor called her to testify.

After the preliminaries, he asked. “Ms. Ryan, you were, until a divorce was granted on June 17 of this year, legally married to David Morris Norton. Is that correct?”

“Yes. That is the date the divorce was final.”

“Ms. Ryan, the question raised by the defense is whether you had a legal right to access the safe located in what is referred to as “Mr. David Norton’s office” in the home you jointly owned. Could you tell us how you came to enter the office and access the safe?”

“The safe in David’s office was for joint use. Several pieces of my jewelry, a watch that had belonged to my father, and assorted legal papers were in the safe. We also kept a few hundred dollars in the safe. That day I went to the safe to get a ring that belonged to my mother. I planned to have it cleaned to give it to my niece on her sixteenth birthday.”

“It was then that you found this item, Exhibit 24-A, inside the safe?”

“Yes. I only noticed it because the paper was an unusual buff color and very high quality. I picked it up and noticed the words “the next targets” along with three names. I put the note back, thinking they were possibly investors for David’s next movie.”

“When did you access the safe again?”

“A few weeks later, an envelope of the same buff paper arrived. David snatched it from my hand and headed into his office. The next day when he was gone, I opened the safe and found the letter. Three more names on the list, but also with the words ‘David, the best marks yet. These idiots are ready to hand over cash just to be in the movie industry.’”

“What did you do then?”

“I suspected there was more going on. Money I couldn’t account for was being deposited into our account, but I couldn’t find any trace of the transactions in his production company, although that is where he said the deposits were from. I was not a partner in his development business, but I knew he kept the books in a locked cabinet that we had both used at one time. I still had a key, and I found the accounting transactions.”

“That is when you realized your husband and his partner were engaged in a scheme to dupe investors into giving money for false projects?”

The defense objected, but the judge overruled the objection. Sage answered quietly. “Yes.”

“That’s all but, Your Honor, Ms. Ryan’s right to access the safe and cabinet are clearly defined in the documents we submitted—the deed shows the property is owned jointly, and the receipt for the safe and its installation signed by Ms. Ryan.”

“Your witness.” The judge called on the defense.

David’s attorney tried to invalidate her testimony but could not. The judge moved on to other items on the motion and adjourned the court. As she was about to disconnect the Zoom link, David turned to the camera and made a slitting motion across his throat.

~~~

For the next two weeks, Sage concentrated on finishing the screenplays. When completed, she sent the files to Zack’s office, where his secretary would forward the files to the producers for review. With the scripts finished until returned for revision, she concentrated on painting. She found painting cathartic and enjoyable, but she was getting restless. The trial date loomed three weeks away, and her exile would end soon.

To her surprise, Amy and Jim loved her watercolors of the park and the trails and commissioned her to paint several for the gift shop. Commissioned. She never thought she would hear that word in connection with painting. To her bigger surprise, a couple of paintings had sold. She tried to text Rosie about the sales, but the cell tower was down after a very violent summer storm. Jim told her that cell service should be restored within a day. Sage wanted to take more photos of the Middle Falls to paint it from different angles, so she decided to spend her time there. She didn’t need service to take photos.

After lunch, she grabbed her phone, sketchbook, and water bottle, and headed up the trail. The midday heat was building, and she tied a bandana around her forehead as sweat began to form. Reaching the falls, she thought how nice it would be to skinny dip in the cool water, but there were too many hikers around. Instead, she began taking photos from different angles.

The first snap of a twig sounded distant. A hiker, she thought. Then a closer sound chilled her blood. A voice she never wanted to hear speak again.

“Missed me so much that you had to return to where I first kissed you. Hard to forget, aren’t I?”

Her body trembled as she turned to face him. “How did you find me?” Her voice sounded as shaky as her body.

David smiled. “What a question. Did you really think I wouldn’t find you? This was a clever hiding place. I racked my brain for months trying to figure out where you would go, and then it hit me. Little sentimental Sage and I realized it as the only place you would come—to the veil.” He stepped closer, and Sage took a step back, knowing she was perilously close to the pool's edge.

“What do you want?”

This time he laughed heartily. “My dear, I want you dead.”

She took a small step sideways, but he moved with her. Fear flooded her as she realized getting away from him was futile, but she had to try.

“Even if I’m dead, you’re going to prison. They have all the evidence they need to convict you.”

“But while I am spending my few years in prison, I will have the pleasure of knowing you are dead.”

Sage sucked in a deep breath, ran at him, pushed him aside, and raced past him. She thought she might get away for a moment, but a blow to her back sent her sprawling across the ground, her head smashing against a rock, and she lost consciousness.

~~~

Tammy, working on reservations, heard the sirens coming. So rare to hear them, she rushed outside to find police cars entering the parking lot. A couple, quite distraught, exited one of the cruisers.

The woman ran toward her. “Sage, where is she? I’m her sister. Where’s her unit?”

“Sage? There’s no one by that name here.”

“She’s here. She wasn’t answering her phone, so we drove up. We were scared something had happened. Her attorney called when we were nearly here. David was on an ankle monitor, but they found it cut off. He could be here.”

An officer joined them. “You would have her under the name Amy Watson. We need to find her.”

“Amy? Uh, yes, she’s here, but she told me at lunch that she was going to the Middle Falls to take photos. She’s been painting… “

Rosie shoved a photo into her face. “Have you seen this man?”

“No, I… “

Jim, Tammy’s husband, had joined them. “Yeah, I saw that guy earlier. Said he’d heard about the park and wanted to check it out. He was headed up the trail.”

Rosie turned toward Gil and the officer. “Oh no... we’re too late.”

The officer radioed as they headed to the trail. “Subject is heading up the trail to Middle Falls. We need all available units.”

~~~

The light was gray at first, but then her vision cleared, although her head pounded with pain. Sage lay on her side, hands and feet bound. David sat cross-legged in front of her. “I had hoped to be done with this by now, but I really want you conscious when I kill you, so you will know it’s coming.” He stood. “However, you knocked out gave me time to figure out how to do it.”

“You really think you’ll get away with killing me.”

“I know I will.”

He pointed to a rock in the pool. “I just have to get the angle right to make it look like you tripped and fell in, hitting your head on that rock and then drowning. Piece of cake. Easy directing job.”

Sage struggled against the ropes, but David pulled her to her feet. “Time’s up. I was done with you a long time ago. I had too many young gals desperate to get into show business and willing to do whatever I wanted, but you proved a useful cover until you snooped. I am going to enjoy watching you die.”

He dragged her into the water, grabbed her hair, and turned her head to the waterfall. “You told me that the waterfall reminded you of a wedding veil. Now it’s a veil of death.”

He placed his hand on her neck to slam her head into the rock, but she bucked against him and threw him off balance. He nearly went down, but, in that instant, she got loose from his grip. She wasn’t going to make this easy for him. He roared in anger, his eyes fiery coals, and lunged toward her.

She briefly took her eyes off him as she caught movement on the trail. Someone was coming. She had to stall him. “David, don’t flatter yourself that I came here because I pined for you. I came to replace those memories with the ones from my childhood. Believe me, you weren’t hard to forget.”

“Of course, you pined for me. I’m David Norton, famed producer-director.”

With gritted teeth, she baited him, knowing what would make him angry. “You became famous because of my screenplay.”

He lunged again. This time, she fell, and he grabbed her. “Your screenplay was nothing until I worked my magic.” He spun her around. “I’ve had enough.”

He pushed her down, her head inches from the rock, when a voice yelled, “Police.” David continued to push, and just as her head touched the rock, a police officer slammed into David, knocking him away.

Other arms grabbed her—Rosie. Sage collapsed in her sister’s embrace. It was over.

~~~

Sage sat on the patio of the house at the vineyard. An easel sitting next to her held a nearly finished painting of the family home. Rosie came out of the house carrying a cheese, crackers, and wine tray.

“It’s so peaceful here on top of this mountain.”

Rosie poured the wine. “But you miss Los Angeles.”

“Not Los Angeles. After the trial ended, I realized I wanted nothing more than to be out of LA. I do miss the ocean, but I need a change of scenery. I can still write screenplays and paint, but somewhere else.”

Her sister picked up the brochures on the table next to Sage. “The Caribbean?”

“Yes, remember Mom and Dad loved their vacations there. So maybe I’ll go there for a while.”

“David won’t be out of prison for twenty-seven years. The jurors didn’t take kindly to the unlawful detention and attempted murder charges. You could stay here.”

“The only good thing out of this is David is in prison.”

“The other good thing,” Rosie pointed to the easel, “is your burgeoning art career.”

“Who knew? Once Amy and Jim got over the shock of my deception, they still want paintings.”

Rosie raised her glass. “You did the right thing in turning in David. Always know we are here for you, whatever you do, or wherever you go.”

Sage raised her glass, and her eyes drifted to the brochures as they sipped the wine. Saint Paradis. Maybe she would go there. This time she no longer had to hide.